The Uber investor and Hyperloop One co-founder is accusing former Mitt Romney presidential campaign manager Matthew Rhoades and his business partner, Joseph Pounder, of aiming to convince reporters of "false and disparaging statements." There's a list of alleged misstatements, including that Pishevar is an agent of the Russian government and that he settled a sexual assault claim in London.

According to the lawsuit, Pishevar believes "defendants have been retained by competitors or other business adversaries of Mr. Pishevar to orchestrate and implement a malicious smear campaign, apparently designed to incite false, defamatory, and highly damaging chatter and gossip about Mr. Pishevar amongst reporters and strategically targeted individuals in Mr. Pishevar's professional and personal networks, such as investors in Uber."

The suit acknowledges that it is not illegal to conduct factual research, but is instead accusing Definers of slander, "in the hopes that false facts find their way to reporters and ultimately to the public."

Tim Miller, who's listed as a partner at Definers, called the claims "delusional," in a tweet:

Mr Pishevar's claims are delusional. Definers has never engaged in any of the actions in his complaint nor done any work with regards to him https://t.co/Hx0O3IpVxy

Pishever's lawsuit cites a Recode story from earlier this year, which talks about Definers Public Affairs setting up shop in Oakland. According to the story, Definers' mission is "to arm companies with ammunition to attack their corporate rivals, sway their government overseers and shape the public’s opinion on controversial issues."